Was watching the CarBuyer review of the latest Vauxhall Astra VXR (Opel Astra OPC) on YouTube

What struck me is that while this car is said to be the most powerful front wheel drive 'hot hatch' on sale in the UK, with a 2 litre turbo engine, 276bhp, and 400n/m of torque, it shares the same 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds with the manual 328i (that's before BMW adjusted their figures).

Yes the BMW is heaps more expensive, but it's interesting that a 'luxury sedan' with fewer bhp (245) and less torque (350) is just as quick off the mark.

Well first I wouldn't say a 328i is really a luxury sedan, but, to your point, it is a decent handling sedan. The real issue is that the Vauxhall can't as readily apply it's power. Part of that is the problem with the FWD and part if that is the laggy turbo. The car looks nice, but I think it would be way better and have great tuning potential if it were AWD.